What does it take to understand another person’s work and translate all the subtleties into another format? Join acclaimed playwright Hiro Kanagawa and award-winning author Mark Sakamoto as they discuss the process of bringing written word to life on-stage, and successfully depicting the fragile complexities of finding forgiveness.

Hybrid events are held in person, you will also be able to watch it live streamed from our Youtube channel.

Location: Theatre, UBC Robson Square

Type: In Conversation

Sponsored by Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop · Historic Joy Kogawa House

Readers: Hiro Kanagawa, Forgiveness (Playwrights Canada Press) | Mark Sakamoto, Forgiveness (HarperCollins)

About The Readers

Hiro Kanagawa is a Vancouver-based writer and actor perhaps best-known for his 200-plus film and television roles ranging from "Best in Show" and art house shorts to hit shows like "Smallville", "Altered Carbon" and "Star Trek: Discovery". Behind the camera he was story editor on several critically-acclaimed Canadian television series: "Da Vinci’s Inquest", "Da Vinci’s City Hall", "Intelligence" and "Blackstone". As a playwright, he received the 2017 Governor-General’s Literary Award for Drama for his play, "Indian Arm". His other works include "Tiger of Malaya" (2002) and "The Patron Saint of Stanley Park" (2008), both of which have been performed across Canada. Earlier this year he received the Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding New Script for his adaptation of Mark Sakamoto’s memoir "Forgiveness" which premiered in January, 2023 in an Arts Club Theatre / Theatre Calgary co-production directed by renowned director Stafford Arima. His next work, a play co-commissioned by the Banff Centre and the Stratford Festival, is inspired by the astonishing true account of a Japanese castaway in the 19th Century Pacific Northwest.

MARK SAKAMOTO is an entrepreneur and investor in digital health and digital media and is the executive vice-president of Think Research, a global digital-health company. His first book, Forgiveness: A Gift from My Grandparents, debuted as a #1 national bestseller and went on to win CBC Canada Reads in 2018. The book is being developed into a feature film and has been theatrically staged by Vancouver's Arts Club Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary. A frequent television presence, Mark was the host and executive producer of Good People, a documentary series that explored humanity's biggest problems and was co-produced by Vice Media and the CBC. He sits on the Giller Foundation's board of directors. Mark Sakamoto lives in Toronto and Prince Edward County with his wife and their two daughters.